Wheel for railway vehicles



July 7, 1936. G. F. DE BUIGNE WHEEL FOR RAILWAY VEHICLES Filed Feb. 14, 1934 at the point of contact Patented July 7, 1936 WHEEL FOB RAILWAY vEmcnEs Gustav F. de Buign, Vienna, Austria Application February 14, 1934, Serial No. 711,269

In Austria February '20, 1933 Claims. (01. 105165) The disadvantages of the wheels of railway vehicles heretofore in use are well known. These wheels have conical running surfaces the generatrices of which located at the contact point with the rail are inclined upwards away from the vertical central plane of the track. These wheels tend to grooving the rails and to selfderailments. It has already been proposed to do away with these drawbacks by so shaping the running surfaces of the wheels that they are conical but that their generatrices at the contact point with the rails are inclined upwards towards the central vertical plane of the track. But these wheels have not been adapted because in the absence of the wheel flanges the safe running of the vehicles appeared endangered although suchwheels automatically corrected the position of the axle. Such wheels did not permit of making wheel bodies with rocking axles or with a difierential drive since the danger of derailment could not be perfectly done away with. Providing outer flanges was prohibited since it would have necessitated a change of the construction of the entire permanent way. Now the invention makes it possible to so alter in the simplest manner wheels with inner flanges heretofore used that they show all the advantages of wheels having conical running surfaces the generatrices of which clined upwards towards the vertical central plane of the track without their disadvantages. A differential drive of rocking axles is made possible a change in the existing permanent way.

According to the invention these results are obtained by providing each wheel of a set of wheels with a guiding rib of low height cooperating with the outside of the rail head. This guiding rib merges in continuous curvature into a surface of revolution diminishing in diameter towards the vertical central plane of the track, the said surface of revolution making, as seen in transverse section, an acute anglewith the horizontal running surface of the rail head. It is particularly advantageous to construct the said surface of revolution as a conical surface the. bottom generatrices of which are inclined upwards towards the" vertical central planeof the track. In case of wheels inclined to the vertical, however, the said surface of revolution may be constructed as a cylindrical surface of corresponding inclination. Independently theref r in such wheels the standard inner flange may -be providedv and parts of the running surfaces with the rails are inby the invention without necessitating.

may even be provided with cones, the bottom generatrices of which are inclined upwards away from the vertical central plane of the track. For grooved rails and hence more particularly for tramway wheels the invention may besimply made suitable bycausing the guiding rib to cooperate with the outer suface of the inner part of the rail head and causing the conical surface the bottom generatrices of which are inclined upwards towards the vertical cenl0 tral plane of the track to cooperate likewise with the said inner part of the rail head.

With the conventional railway wheels, i. e.

I those with a tread inclined upwardly and away from the central vertical plane of the track, an

attempt to position the wheels so that their axle is at right angles to the axis of the track will result in the wheels seeking to turn so that their axle makesan acute angle with a normal to the track, in a'horizontal plane. This move ment is due to the fact that under the influence of gravity, the pair of wheels always seek a position of smallest possible radius, the radius of the circle on which the contacting points in the first case lie being greater than that of the circle on which lie the contacting points in the second case. Thus with the wheels now in use, a tendency for derailment is present.

The contrary eflect takes place in the case of my invention. When my wheels are positioned on the tracks with their axle at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the tracks, they will retain their right-angular relation, and will even assume that position if they are initially set at an angular relation with respect to the tracks. This tendency'is also due to the.

efiect of gravity.

The differences between the conventional and my construction are particularly emphasized when the wheels traverse curves. In the case according to the conventional design, friction will occur between the wheel and the track on the inside of the outer rail, so that the pair of wheels is turned in a direction opposite to that necessary for correct running on the curve. In my case, on the contrary, when the wheels run into a curve, inner wheel and the outside of the inner rail, to that pivoting about this point of contact as a center, the wheels are turned automatically into their correct pos'tion for running in the curve. I

jIn the drawing some constructional formsof the subject matter of the invention are shown diagrammatically by way of example.

friction occurs between the -springs, rubber or the like.

axles. Fig. 8 shows a set of wheels with steer-- ing wheels. g

The head I of the Vignole rail (Fig. 1) is in transverse section exactly the same as heretofore. The wheel is provided according to the invention at its outside with a guide rib 3 projecting only slightly. The guide rib only projects approximately so far below the top of the rail as the curvature of the running surface of the head of the rail extends, that is to say. until the curved outline of the transverse section merges into the vertical. This guide rib 3 merges by a continuously curved outline I into an outwardly opening core 5 which can extend either over the entire running surface of the wheel or it can extend to about the top of the rail, that is to say, up to the point 6. At the inner side of the wheel there is provided the usual flange- I.

. The guide rib provided according to the invention and projecting only slightly below the top of the rail makes it possible that the wheel can run without shocks over switches, crossings, and the'like without necessitating any change of these parts. On the other hand the guide rib secures all the advantages warrented by an outer flange projecting to a much greater extent.

The shockless passing of switches and crossings can be enhanced by yieldingly mounting the guide rib 3 in a circumferential groove is of the wheel, as shown in Fig. 2, it being advantageous to insert between the guide rib 3' and the bottom of the groove resilient elements such as The effect of this arrangement is that in normal running the guide rib is caused to contribute to the desired correction of the movement of the wheel, while on passing switches or curves the guide rib retires into the groove is against the action of the resilient elements It.

In the constructional form of the invention shown in Fig. 3 and designed for grooved rails the latter may be used in their normal size and shape,butinthiscasetheguideribrunsinthe groove of the rail and cooperates with the outer side Ill oftheinnerpart ll of theheadof the rooved rail. The transverse section .of this guide rib merges by a continuous curve into a conical surface I! the bottom generatrices of which are inclined upwards towards the central vertical plane of the'track. This conical surface cooperates with the running surface of the inner part ll of the head of the grooved rail. Inthiscasenochangewhateverinthepermanent way is necessary, since the guide rib serves as a substitute for thenormal flange. All the guiding functions performed in ordinary railways by the outer guide rib and the head of the Vignole rail are in the present caseby theinnerpart l l ofthe headofthe grooved rail, the guide rib I and the cone I! while the normal outer rlmning surface" of the wheel takes up the maior'part of the load.

In this construction too the friction conditions may be rendered more favorable if the tire is divided along a plane perpendicular to the axle. as shown in Fig. 4, so that the guide rib to gether with the conical running surface is arranged on one part I! of the wheel while the load supporting tire and the outer running surface l3 arearrangedintheotherpart li'ofthe wheel which may also be provided with a guide rib, as is indicated in broken lines.

The wheel parts l2 and II may be provided with separate supporting springs. The particular inclination of the running surface of the wheels to the nmning surface of the rail contributes to the automatic corree- 1 tion of the adjustment of the axle primarily due to the guide rib. In consequence thereof the invention permits to so construct sets wheels with independently driven wheels with rocking axles and finally withsteering axles. i

Fig. 5 shows a set of wheels consisting of wheels with conical running surfaces constructed in accordance with the invention in which each wheel II, II is separately iournslied in a journalpinofathrough-goingwheelaxle "so? thatthisaxlemaybemountedfreetorockona vertical pivot 21. springs. Notwithstanding the provision of a rocking 'axle a derailment of the set of wheels isimpossible owingtothespecialconstruetion! of the wheels. I The constructional form illustrated by Fig.1 shows the same construction of the axleasthe constructional form just described with the sole diflerencethattheplanesofthewheelsareinst clined to the vertical and their journal pins are correspondingly inclined to the horizontal. This construction of the wheel axles permits to me wheels with a cylindrical running surface in-' stead of'such' with a conicalrunning surface 4 the bottom generatrices of which are inclined upwards towards the central vertical plane 0'! the track. The inclination of the wheels secures the same advantage as the conical running surface of inverted inclination. 4 In the constructional form shown in Fig. 'l the wheels II, II are Journalled on half axles ll, 2. pivoted at 25 to a member ll mounted on a journal pin it to rotate in a horizontal plane. The journal pin II is rigidiy'ccunected s4 toatransversespringllbearingfrcmabove against the half axles ll, 20. With this constructionthewheelsareadaptedtorockhotoniy inahorisontalplanebutalsoinaverticalplane wherebyastillmoresmoothrunningofthelet Ii of wheels is secured. I Theconstructionai formillustratedinl'lg. 8 shows wheels II, II moimted'on journal pins 21,

28, vertical pivots 2O beingprovided .at the inner ends of the said journal pins. The pivots II are 00 connectedbyayokell. Theiournalpinsq llareconnectedwitheachotherbylevers journalled on the pivots 29 and a link 32,

The construction of therunningsurfaceof wheels makes it possible, as is been from above. ofthedrive,sinceowingtothe00nstructionof the wheels an automatic correction or the runningofthewheelisbroughtaboutbutmta tendency to derailment is set up.

What I claim is: 1. Ina vehiclerunningonraiisconstitutinga track and having a frame, at least one axlesupporting said frame and prevented from revolving around its longitudinal axis in said frame."

being substantially rectilinear and said generatrix, at its point of contact with the associated rail, being inclined upwardly towards the central vertical plane of said track, and means securing said axle to said frame in such manner as to permit said axle to rock around a; vertical axis.

2. In a vehicle running track and having a frame, at least one axle supporting said frame and prevented from revolving round it longitudinal axis in said frame, said axle having journals at both of its ends, said journals being inclined upwardly and towards the central vertical plane of said track, a wheel on each of said journals and freely revolvable thereon independently of the other, the periphery of each of said wheels comprising a tread part and a guide rib at that end of said tread part more remote from the vertical central plane of said track, the generatrix of said tread being substantially rectilinear and said generatrix, at its point of contact with the associated rail, being inclined upwardly and towards the central vertical plane of said track, securing said axle to said frame in such manner as to permit said axle to rock around a vertical axis.

3. In a vehicle running on rails constituting a track, and having a frame, at least one axle supporting said frame and prevented from revolving around its longitudinal axis in said frame, said axle having journals atboth of its ends, a wheel on each of said journals and freely revolvable independently of the other, the

periphery of each of said wheels comprising a tread part and a guide rib at that end of said tread part more remote from the vertical central plane of said track, said guide rib projecting slightly beyond said tread portion, the generatrix of said tread being substantially rectilinear, and said generatr'ix, at its point of contact with the associated rail, being inclined upwardly and towards the central vertical plane of said track, and means securing said axle to-said on rails constituting a a circumferential inclined upwardly frame in such manner as to permit said axle to rock around a vertical axis.

4. In a vehicle running on rails constituting a track, and having a frame. at least one axle supporting said frame-and prevented from revolving round its longitudinal axis in said frame, said axle having journals at both of its ends, a wheel on each ofsald journals and freely revolvable thereon independently of the other, the periphcry of each of said wheels comprising a tread part and a guide rib at that end of said tread I part more remote from the vertical central plane of said track, the generatrix of said tread being substantially rectilinear, and said generatrix, at its point of contact with-the associated rail, being inclined upwardly and towards the central vertical plane of said track, the said rail having groove therein, at the outside of said wheel, the said guide rib being radially yieldingly mounted in said circumferential groove of said wheel and normally projecting slightly beyond said tread, and means securing said axle to said frame in such manner as to permit said axle to rock around a vertical axis.

5. In a vehicle running on rails constituting a track and having a frame, at least one axle supporting said frame and prevented from revolving round its longitudinal-axis in said frame, said axle comprising a central support portion, an end portion at each end, each said end portions being journalled to said central portion by a horizontal journal pin extending parallel to the central vertical plane of the track and said central portion of the axle being journalled on a vertical journal pin located substantially in the central vertical plane of said track, awheel carried by each of said end portions at its outer extremity, said wheel being freely revolvable independently of each other, the periphery of each of said wheels comprising a tread part and a guide rib at that end of said tread part more remote from the vertical central plane of said track, the generatrix of said tread being substantially rectilinear and saidgeneratrix, at its point of contact with the associated rail being and towards the central vertical plane of said tudinal axis of said axle, and securing said axle to said frame in such manner as to permit said axle torock around a vertical axis.

GUSTAV FR. na BUIGNE.

track relatively to said longi-- 

